The lasting impact of Anthony Bourdain’s visit to Maine | Column
A pedestrian crosses in front of J’s Oyster on Portland Pier in 2022.
A couple weeks ago, Eddie Cartonio was shucking oysters at J’s when a customer who couldn’t have been more than 30 years old sat down at the bar.
The young chef was on a mission to visit places Anthony Bourdain had been, and the Portland waterfront seafood restaurant was on his list. Cartonio showed him a picture of Bourdain with the staff that hangs on the wall by a table where he once sat.
A photo of Anthony Bourdain with the staff at J’s hangs on a wall at the Portland waterfront restaurant that was featured in a 2010 episode of “No Reservations.” (Leslie Bridgers/Staff Writer)
“He was just overwhelmed,” Cartonio said about the customer.
Bourdain first came to J’s Oyster — and to Maine — to film a 2010 episode of his culinary travel show “No Reservations,” as Portland was gaining a reputation for its restaurant scene. His purpose, though, was to see the home state of his longtime cinematographer, Milo native Zach Zamboni.
The latter part of the episode was spent with Zamboni’s family in Piscataquis County, but it started off in Portland, with the colleagues sharing a bucket of steamers and mingling with the lively bar crowd at J’s, which Bourdain called “the kind of place that’s not hard to get me into.”
“Tony,” the movie out in theaters this month about the start of Bourdain’s career in a kitchen on Cape Cod, has sparked new conversations about the revered, irreverent chef, writer and TV show host who died by suicide in 2018. At some places he visited in Maine, people never stopped talking about him.
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Chef Melissa Kelly, who shared multiple scenes with Bourdain on the show, said customers still come into her Rockland restaurant, Primo, because they saw the episode (now streaming on HBO Max).
She hasn’t forgotten his visit, either, saying hanging out with him was “a blast.”
“He had a gusto for life, appreciated hard work and quality,” Kelly said.
His picture hangs in the kitchen at Primo, and the restaurant celebrated his birthday last year by re-creating the menu from his visit, finished with port and his favorite cheese, Stilton.
While Kelly said she’s excited to see the film, another Maine restaurateur who appeared in the episode doubts he will.
Dana Street, owner of renowned Portland restaurants Fore Street, Scales and — most relevant here — Street & Co., didn’t want to participate in the show. He said last week he only agreed to be filmed sharing a meal with Bourdain at his Wharf Street restaurant after persistent requests and encouragement from others who felt it was a good opportunity.
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In his narration of the scene, Bourdain said mostly positive things about Street & Co.’s food but called the atmosphere dull, mocked the use of sauté pans as plates and dissed Street himself.
“After two minutes with this guy, I can already tell it must be difficult to work in this place,” he said in the episode.
Street was infuriated when he saw it, fearing it would hurt his business.
That never happened, and he’s heard at least one customer say he came to the restaurant because of Bourdain.
Anthony Bourdain with Valentino Cartonio at his family’s Portland restaurant, J’s Oyster, when Bourdain was in town on a speaking tour. (Courtesy of Eddie Cartonio)
Although mentions of the restaurant on social media are often accompanied by references to the episode (and responses defending the establishment and its owner), for Street, it’s all in the past and not something he thinks about. As of June, after all, he has a much more positive claim to fame — winner of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur.
Later asked about his snarky comments, Bourdain partly chalked them up to being in a bad mood during the meal. But he proved he meant what he said about J’s, returning there for dinner when back in town on a speaking tour.
Cartonio, a manager at the restaurant owned by his stepmother, believes Bourdain’s visit has had a significant impact on its business over the years and on the Portland food scene as a whole.
Before the “No Reservations” episode, Portland had been more of a hidden gem, Cartonio said. “I think he kicked it off.”
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Tagged: maine food, maine restaurants, Television
Leslie Bridgers is a columnist for the Portland Press Herald, writing about Maine culture, customs and the things we notice and wonder about in our everyday lives. Originally from Connecticut, Leslie came. More by Leslie Bridgers
